End of US highway 72 (original) (raw)

| 1926-1931East: Kimball, TNWest: Bartlett, TN | 1931-1934East: Kimball, TNWest: Selmer, TN | | | -------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | |

Picture Summa Mileage: in 1989 AASHTO listed a figure of 397 miles for US 72... however, that included the mileage of US 72's associated business/alternate routes. According to the state subtotals on AASHTO's 1989 spreadsheet, mainline US 72's actual end-to-end total at the time was 320 miles. That closely matches our own 2020 measurement, which yielded 318.0 miles.
US 72 was around in the beginning (1926). The east terminus was at US 41 in Kimball TN... but back then US 41 used a different routing through the area than it does today. Originally, from Jasper, US 41 went southwest along today's US 72. Just off what is now I-24's exit 152, US 41 went northwest on today's TN hwy. 2. US 72 began by continuing southwest from that junction. This photo was looking southeast on TN 2: Picture CDog420, Aug. 2008

​That was once southbound US 41, which continued to the left, towards Jasper on what today is US 64-72. But originally US 72 began to the right. Although US 72 had essentially the same termini as it does today, its route was different. From Kimball US 72 followed its current route through northern Alabama, but at Corinth MS it went north with US 45 to Selmer TN. Then it continued west on modern US 64, ending at US 70 in Bartlett (just outside Memphis).

At the time, US 72 continued further west on Stage Road than US 64 does today, and US 70 was routed right through the original Bartlett townsite. This shot was looking west on Stage: Picture Karners, Apr. 2014
​That is a modern perspective of the original west end of US 72: straight ahead was westbound US 70, while eastbound was to the right on Sycamore View Road. It appears US 70 was changed to its modern routing in about 1929, so for a few years after that, the west end of US 72 was where US 64 intersects US 70 (Summer Avenue). This next photo was taken looking east on Stage: Picture Karners, Apr. 2014
Today US 64 comes in from the right on Summer and diverges from US 70-79 here. Historically, US 72 began straight ahead on Stage.In 1931, when US 64 was extended east to Chattanooga, the west end of US 72 was truncated to Selmer. This shot was taken looking southeast on Court Avenue (which is the main road through town): Picture Redding, June 2008
​Originally that was southbound US 45 / eastbound US 72. The two routes split at that fork, with US 72 following Poplar Avenue to the left, and US 45 taking Mulberry Street to the right. But in 1931, US 64 was extended through there, so US 72 was truncated in order to avoid a long duplex between there and Memphis. So after that time, it was US 64 that followed Poplar to the left. To the right was still US 45, but also the east beginning of US 72. ​​In 1934, the east end of US 72 was extended to its current terminus in Chattanooga. And that same year, US 72 was truncated at Corinth MS and instead extended west via its modern corridor back into Memphis. However, unlike most US routes in the '30s, US 72 did not go all the way into downtown Memphis. Rather, it ended at East Parkway, where Poplar Avenue had a junction with US 64-70 (and later US 79): Picture c. 1930, TNDoT
Picture c. 1938, TNDoT Picture c. 1951, TNDoT

One could certainly interpret those maps to suggest the possibility that US 72 actually went all the way downtown, overlapped with US 64-70. But this historic photo was taken looking west on Poplar at the East Pkwy intersection; across the street on the right hand side is a sign for Overton Park:

Picture

(date and attribution unknown; linked to source)

If we take a closer look at the route shields shown there, we can see that US 72 was signed only to the east along Poplar. To the south on East Pkwy was signed only as US 64-70; the following details show the signs visible in the photo above from left to right: That was the case until about 1958. Around that time, US 72 traffic was directed to turn off Poplar onto the then-new Union Avenue extension. But US 72 still ended at its junction with East Pkwy. That was the arrangement at the time of a 1960 photo, the signs in which are shown in the details below. US 72 began straight ahead on Union, while US 64-70-79 continued by turning north on East Pkwy: Picture c. 1960 (detail; linked to source) Picture c. 1960 (detail) It should be noted that, even though US 72 officially ended on the east side of town, there was a time period during which it was signposted all the way to the Mississippi River crossing. This photo shows a US 72 shield on Crump Boulevard at Riverside Drive. And here is another example; this was looking north on 3rd Street at Linden Avenue (now MLK)... Picture c. 1960 (linked to source)
...but I have never seen that corroborated on any historic map; the only ones I have ever seen show US 72 ending at East Pkwy. In about 1978, US 72 was changed back to its old terminus (i.e. traffic was directed to remain on Poplar all the way to East Pkwy again). Then in about 1995, US 72 was changed back to Union again, but this time it did not terminate at East Pkwy. Instead, the US 72 designation was extended a bit further west to its current terminus at its junction with US 51. This photo was looking west on Union, and it shows the last US 72 marker: Picture Sanderson, Oct. 2007 At that point, Union is not only US 64-72, but also US 70-79; for some reason those routes were not marked on that assembly. The traffic signal in the distance is at Bellevue Boulevard; modern TNDoT maps indicate that US 72 ends there at its junction with US 51. That intersection is signposted as follows; ahead is northbound US 51 (as well as US 64-70-79): Picture Sanderson, Oct. 2007
Today, heading out of downtown Memphis, the first US 72 sign appears just after crossing I-240... Picture Sanderson, Oct. 2007 ...although that is not actually US 72 yet. Rather, it begins a couple blocks further east, where southbound US 51 splits off onto Bellevue: Picture Sanderson, Oct. 2007 Just ahead is a zero mile-marker for TN 23, and that is the official beginning of US 72 as well. Just beyond that is the first eastbound US 72 sign that is actually on US 72: Picture Sanderson, Oct. 2007 One final shot: here we are looking north on Bellevue, or northbound US 51, which continues to the left on Union. To the right on Union is the west beginning of US 72: Picture Sanderson, Oct. 2007

Research and/or photo credits: Nathan Edgars; Adam Froehlig; Karin and Martin Karner; Richard Montgomery; Kevin Redding; Mike Roberson; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa; Ed Wilson; "CDog420"

Page originally created 2002; last updated Jul. 8, 2024.